It is way to early on a Saturday morning for me to be awake, but Michael and I are going to head to the Katy area to go to a workshop. We are going to a class through Lifestyles Unlimited which is a company that educates and mentors people like us who are seeking to invest in real estate. We want to start buying real estate in the future so that we can create passive income, which simply means income that we get without doing any work. Long term, we would like to be serving in another country like Japan or China and so doing this will help eliminate us asking for money from people. We will be able to support ourselves.
With that, I am up because we have to be in Katy around 8. Not my ideal Saturday morning, but here I am. We had some company over last night and I was not able to blog, so I thought I would make sure and get that in this morning :)
In reading Ruth this morning and yesterday morning, I have really learned a lot. Here is the brief outline of what I have read so far. (Just a side note: I have read this many times before, but it's interesting to re-read this and learn new things) Naomi had two sons and husband whom all died. She, unselfishly, in all her anguish told her daughter-in-laws to go back to their hometown because she knew that the future wasn't looking so great for her. Orpah went back to her hometown, but Ruth clung to her. It says in Ruth 1: 16-18, "But Ruth replied, 'Don't urge me to leave you/or turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever severely, if anything but death separates you and me.' When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her." Ruth was obedient to Naomi. She stuck by her side and was willing to die where Naomi was going to die. More over, she was willing to worship the TRUE God even though she was a Moabite. In return, God blesses her.
So they returned to Bethlehem, and caused a big commotion in the town when they arrived. People couldn't believe what they saw. Again, Naomi remained obedient to God through this and was determined to do what was right. She found out that a distant relative, Boaz, had some land there and according to the law in Deuteronomy 25: 1-5 he could be Ruth's "kinsman redeemer". Two things we see here. 1) God's sovereign hand was upon them throughout all of this in that He brought them back to Bethlehem where David would be born and also fulfilling scripture because Jesus would be born there. 2) Naomi, even in all her hardships, put her daughter-in-law before herself and unselfishly thought of her. We can relate this back to our Savior in that He unselfishly gave His life for us at no cost and at no price to pay for us. Just simply a free gift that we have been given. We also see the obedience from both of these women and how, because of their obedience, God blesses them. They won't see the full fruit of their labor, but that doesn't matter because they will get that view in eternity.
How much more should I be obedient to my Savior? Lord, teach me to walk in obedience to You and Your word. Help me to live like Naomi and Ruth did in that they always were thinking of others first. I know I am not the best as this, but Lord give me that mindset. Amen
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